Be sincere doers

A handsome, well-dressed man handed a poor beggar a $50.00 bill. “Here, pal, enjoy a big meal on me. There’s even enough there for a drink or two.” The surprised pauper gratefully accepted the bill and proceeded into Tony’s Restaurant where he enjoyed the biggest dinner of his life, topped off with a bottle of wine and big tip for Luigi the waiter.

The well-dressed stranger also went into Tony’s for dinner with associates. They asked him what he was smiling so smugly about. Pointing to the poor man seated on the other side of the restaurant, he told them about the $50.00 bill he had given him. With great self-satisfaction, he boasted, “Ah, it’s a great world. Everyone is happy. That bum because he is no longer hungry, Tony because he made a big sale, the waiter
because he received a nice tip, and me, I’m happy because the $50.00 was counterfeit!”

“A Christian should always remember,” St. John of God preached, “that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things.” The prayers we offer are merely lip service if those prayers do not come from the heart. The dollars we give to charity mean absolutely nothing if they are not given out of a sense of gratitude to God for all that we have received, and out of a sense of responsibility to the poor as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our reading of Scripture and listening to the Gospel is pointless unless it results in a conversion of spirit that shakes us to our souls.

The so-called “charity” practiced by the dapper weasel in our little story is as counterfeit as the phony bill and as empty as the poor man’s pockets. Discipleship must begin within our hearts where we realize Christ’s presence in the lives of the distant poor and then honor that presence in truly meaningful acts of compassion and charity! Lord, help us to be sincere doers, not just talkers!